Swedish launch: Women Hold Up The Sky!

Swedish launch: Women Hold Up The Sky!

Women Hold Up the Sky shares the stories of the often silenced, ignored and erased perspectives of African women.

Women Hold Up the Sky shares the often silenced, ignored and erased voices of African women, whose experiences and struggles are part of a global story of rebellion and resistance against an unworkable, unjust, unsustainable economic, social and development paradigm. The documentary was developed by WoMin, an ecofeminist African alliance that supports local struggles and movements across the continent to expose the impacts of extractivism on African women and advance women-centred, community-driven and climate-just development alternatives.

Women Hold Up The Sky is filmed during three years in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, and deals with issues of natural resources, land exploitation and development through the eyes and experiences of women. The earth’s systems are on the edge of a collapse, and the survival of the majority of the people are threatened by land and natural resource grabs, ecosystem failure, wars, and climate change. The documentary showcase and elaborate the injustice that communities face towards large scale land investments. These investments affect agriculture, land, community’s livelihood and women’s bodies and rights.

Women are the true faces of warriors that fight for their rights and sustainable community while protecting their land. In areas where access to sexual and reproductive health and rights are threatened, the collective power of women rising for change is the true hope we want to celebrate with this screening. Because the right to say NO is uphold to investment and projects that displace communities and continue to widen the gap of poverty. With all the effect caused by extractives it is vital to have binding rules and regulations for business and human rights that can hold companies accountable for violations of human rights and give victims compensation.

After the screening of the documentary a panel will reflect upon the movie and discuss solutions at different levels to improve the situation for women and local communities that are impacted by extractives.

Welcome to be inspired by African women holding up our sky – rising for climate justice!